Short Change Hero
by Anarkyrie42
Summary: "I know just where you're comin' from/And I know just what you're runnin' from/What matters ain't the 'who's baddest..." Being the baddest cats on two wheels didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was seeing the next sunrise with their families. Even if that meant taking two sheriffs into the "club." What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Sons of Anarchy x Walking Dead fanfic... I've been working on it since Season 3 of the Walking Dead... This is the Start of TWD TV Series and pre-Season 6 Finale AU (the AU part: take it very seriously) Sons of Anarchy... It's pretty much Rick centric (Jax centric in parts). I figured I oughta put this out before I forget it exists. I, uh... don't know when I'll be updating... I'll try to do it as often as I can, but this is a little-loved x-over fandom... Don't own anyone?

PAIRINGS (I'm doin' this now so I won't make people sad by shooting down ideas later, though I guess I might add to this later):  
>CANON: Rick x LoriLori x Shane, Maggie x Glenn, Gemma x Nero, Chibs x Fiona  
>NON-CANON: Rick x Michonne, Jax x Beth, Daryl x Kerrianne, Tig x Andrea<p>

* * *

><p>Short Change Heroes<p>

Chapter One  
>Come With Me Now<br>_"I was born without this fear, now all of this seems clear. I need to move, I need to fight, I need to loose myself tonight"_

DAY 61  
>"<em>Hey you, you in the tank...<em>"

It was a young man's voice. Rick scrambled over to the radio. "Yes, yes? Hello?"

"_Yeah, hi._"

"Can you see me right now? Where are you?"

"_Yeah, we can see you. You're surrounded by walkers..."_

"I don't mind saying, I'm a bit concerned in here," Rick said.

"_You should see it from out here. You'd be shitting yourself,_" it was a different voice, an older-sounding, gruffer man's voice.

"Any advice?"

"_Make a run for it_," the younger man said.

"That's it? 'Make a run for it'?" Rick snapped.

"_We've only got so much ammo, Sheriff Friendly, and so much time," _the older man said.

_"We'll try to draw the walkers off for you, but it's on you to book over here,"_ the young man said._  
><em>

_"You got any ammo?"_

"In the bag, I dropped it."

_"Then forget the goddamn bag._ _ Have anything besides your brilliant wit on you?_" the older man said.

"A Baretta, with fifteen rounds."

"_Then you better make them count_," the young man said. "_There's an alley, about fifteen yards up the street from you, right side of the tank._"

"_Go on and climb out... now. Best of luck, Sheriff Friendly._"

Rick hesitated, but obeyed. Rick could hear a voice with an Irish accent cutting above the sound of the hundred groaning walkers surrounding his tank..

"_Oi! Over here, ya maggot-ridden bags o' bones! Over here!_"

Gunshots fired off. Suddenly, silence. Rick climbed up the ladder and hesitantly opened the hatch of the tank, peering around. He saw a woman in riot gear straddling the barrel of another tank. The barrel was cranked up fairly high and the only think keeping her from falling into the pit of dead mouths and hands was one gloved hand planted on the barrel behind her, grabbing the opening.

"You alive, over there, lad? Don't call out just wave or somethin'," she called out. She was Irish, Rick noted. Then he saw the wire. She'd tied it to the barrel of the tank and attached it by hook or something to the building in front of her. If she was careful enough, she could shimmy along it right out of there. She had one escape route. Rick waved. She nodded. "Good, good. Alright, there's two lads, one Korean an' one blond, over to your left and forward, on the other side o' that wire fence. Best get to them, lad."

Rick jumped out of the tank and ran to the Korean boy. The blond fired with a silenced pistol, racking up dead in Rick's wake. They shoved open the gate, the Korean pulled Rick through, and the blond slammed it, latching it closed. The blond wore a leather biker kutte, declaring him a "man of mayhem" and a member of the "Redwood Original" charter of "Sons of Anarchy." Rick knew who the Sons were. The men in the Georgia charter had assault, indecent exposure, public drunkenness and all manner of unpleasantness on their rap sheets, to ice the Gunrunner cake.

"Are you bit?" he asked Rick. Rick shook his head.

"No, I'm not," he told the biker. The biker nodded and switched on the cop radio he was wearing clipped onto his kutte.

"Fi, you got it?" he asked.

"_I'll be wantin' a man to call the biters off my arse._"

"Gotcha," he said, jogging off down the fence, banging the butt of his pistol on the wire links. "C'mon, you mealy mouthed bastards! Come get a piece of some nice Californian! C'mon! C'mon!"

The Korean pointed to the ladder and Rick climbed up it. The Korean boy grabbed a silenced M4 and propped it on the railing once they were on the fire escape platform. He popped off a few shots, killing some of the walking dead while the blond biker took out a few more with his pistol. Once it was empty, he stuck it in the back of his belt and drew his knife, killing the dead walkers easily through the fence. Once the woman was above him, on a window sill, she pulled a cylinder out of her pocket and threw it. It beeped as it arced through the air, drawing the attention of the dead. They rushed the beeping device. The woman aimed along the wire with her silenced pistol and shot the wire. It came down and she pulled it over the fence, sliding down when it was dangling below her. She clapped the blond on the back and they moved for the fire escape.

Apparently, the device she'd thrown was a bomb. It exploded as the two of them were climbing the ladder to the fire escape. They pulled the ladder up and the blond motioned for the Korean to continue. They moved in silence for a long time, until they reached a department store. They snuck in the back and one of the other survivors inside closed the gate behind them.

"I'm Fiona," the woman said, removing her helmet with one hand and offering her hand to shake with the other. She was Irish, apparently, but looked maybe Indian or Middle Eastern. Her long black curls, streaked with grey in the front, were coiled in a tight bun at the back of her head, probably to make helmet wearing easier.

"Rick Grimes," Rick introduced himself, shaking her hand before reaching for the blond's offered hand.

"Deputy Sheriff, huh?" the blond raised an eyebrow. "Jax Teller. Former President of Sons of Anarchy mother charter, SAMCRO."

"You said you were Californian?"

"Yeah," Jax nodded. "Fi, me and my club were out here on our way to visit her cousin. Girl was getting married to the nephew of one of my crew," Jax explained. "Then this happened. All of a sudden, my crew's been cut in half, my wife's dead and we're basically done up the ass. Then we find this kid," Jax grinned and gave the Korean's shoulder a shake, making the boy also grin and sway with the movement.

"I'm Glenn," the boy introduced himself to Rick. "You guys were fine on your own, you said. After Daryl found you."

A rifle crack resonated.

"Yeah, no thanks to his shithead brother," Jax glared at the ceiling. "Morales! Who the hell gave Merle a gun?!"

II

"What the fuck are you doing, you white trash shithead motherfucker?!"

Rick and Jax moved forward quickly. They'd entered right as Merle punched the black man trying to ply away the sniper. But it was Fiona who slipped through between the two of them, kneeing this Merle character in the groin, shoving him back on the roof and taking the rifle. She proceeded to shoved the rifle butt against his groin, pointing the barrel well away from her, vertical in the air.

"Is there anythin' in that skull of yours?" Fiona snapped. "If it is, use it!"

"The sound'll be attracting more of those biting bastards," Jax came to her side. Fiona backed off with the rifle and Merle got to his feet, glaring.

"You best gimme that gun back, you black Irish bitch," Merle spat. Jax grabbed his vest and charged forward, shoving Merle into the pipes.

"Watch what the fuck you say to my family, asshole. You don't mean shit to me and if I told Daryl you got killed doing something fucking dumb, he'd believe it and move the hell on," Jax hissed, nose to nose with him. He turned his head away, looking at Rick. "Hey, Officer Friendly, mind lending me those cuffs?"

"You got a kink for 'em, boy?" Merle growled.

"Yeah, but not for ugly white trash shit stains like you," Jax replied. Rick walked over and cuffed Merle to one of the smaller pipes. Jax let go and backed away.

"_Jax, Fiona!_" the radio squawked. "_You two need to get down here!_"

III

Fiona swore when she saw the increased horde numbers. "Mother of God..." she spat. "Bloody Merle!"

"Shit... That's a lot of dead-heads," Jax sighed. "Okay... How long you think the glass will hold?"

"Not long," the blonde woman said. She was the one who had called Jax. "Who's this?"

"This is Rick Grimes," Glenn said. "Rick, this is Andrea. You already met Morales and Jacqui. Oh, yeah, and that's T-Dog..."

Rick nodded at the black man Merle had punched—T-Dog. "Do you have a sister or wife named Lori?" T-Dog asked. "Little boy named Carl?"

"Yeah, my wife's Lori and Carl's my son. Why?" Rick's eyes lit up. "Do you know where they are?"

"Yeah, they're at our camp," Jax said. "Came with a guy named Shane."

"We need to get out of here," T-Dog said.

"How?" Morales frowned.

"There's a construction site down the road a stretch," Rick said. "We could grab one of those trucks..."

"Mow down a few Walkers with it," Glenn said.

"Most truck companies have their drivers just leave the keys behind the visor," Jax said. "Or I could hot-wire it."

"But how do you get there through _that?_" Andrea nodded at the windows. Rick noticed how she was playing with a necklace she'd placed back on the stand when she saw him coming.

"I got that handled," Jax said. "Rick, Glenn, you two comin'?"

"Sure," Glenn said. Rick nodded.

"By the way, Andrea..." Rick said, glancing at her. She seemed surprised, eyes wide as she looked at him, clutching the mermaid necklace. "I'm not on duty. And it's not like I could do anything even if I was... Go on and take it."

"You're encouraging me to steal?" Andrea half-joked. Rick smiled lightly.

"You can leave money if you want, but I'm pretty sure the manager's not gonna mind."

"Thanks, I guess..." Andrea said, smiling fondly at the necklace. "My sister loves mermaids, but I wasn't sure it was okay to just take it. What with a cop standing there and everything..."

"Of course it is," Rick said, stepping off after Jax and Glenn.

"Hey, Jax, what'd you and Fiona dig up?" Glenn asked, referring to the hefty bag Jax had finally dropped.

"More arrows for Daryl, a shitload of ammo and some silencers," Jax said. "And MRE's. Fi's got half the MRE's and the arrows. I've got the other half and the rest of the ammo and the silencers."

"So, what's the plan?" Rick asked. "Grab a couple of walkers, bash their skulls in, gut them and smear the guts all over our clothes?"

"Grab a couple of walkers, bash their skulls in, gut them and smear the guts all over our clothes," Jax confirmed with a smirk. Rick pulled a grimace and Jax chuckled. "Hey, you ain't Atlanta PD. Where you from, Officer Friendly?"

"Up the road a ways," Rick replied. "You?"

"Exactly? This charmin' little town called Charming," Jax grinned. "Nice, right?"

"Yeah. And Fiona?"

"Belfast, Ireland," Fiona said, striding into the room with T-Dog. "Jackie, you gonna wanna have me or T hold your kutte?"

"Yeah," Jax said, shrugging out of his leather. He tossed it to T-Dog. "Don't let Merle near that."

"Is that stuff even okay to get on your skin?" Glenn asked. Jax shrugged.

"Yeah, just don't eat it," he said. Fiona tossed Glenn and Rick the coats she'd had draped over her arm. She handed Jax the last coat.

"Your mother'd kick your arse if you got walker guts all over your nice clothes," Fiona teased. Jax chuckled.

"Okay, fine," Jax said, shrugging on the coat. "How do I look?"

"Lovely, sweetheart," Fiona chuckled. "Even better with the gore all over ye, I'll bet."

Jax laughed.

IV

"I thought they'd be back by now," Lori said, handing Gemma a handful of clothes pins.

"Oh, sweetheart, don't worry," Gemma said. "Fiona and Jax can more than handle anything, just about."

"Hundreds of hungry walking dead?" Shane snorted. "I doubt that."

"Don't doubt my son," Gemma frowned. "Or that Irishwoman."

"Hey, Gem! Check it out!"

Gemma looked up, hearing Tig's voice. She grinned when she saw the large bunch of fish he and Amy had strung together and were carrying back up from the quarry, along with the buckets of water.

"I guess we're havin' fish for dinner," Gemma smiled.

"You went down there _alone_ with that guy?" Shane hissed, leaning close to Amy as she passed.

"Yeah," Amy glared at him. "Tig's pretty cool, Shane. And less creepy than you."

"That's a first," Gemma snorted, glancing up at Tig. Juice smirked as he picked up another basket for Carol. Tig laughed.

"Hey, I try very hard to be creepy, sweetheart," Tig told Amy.

"Okay, maybe you're not less creepy than Shane, then," Amy said, beaming up at him. He chuckled and draped his arm, still holding the fish. She cringed away from his hand, into his side, groaning with disgust. "Ew, Tig!"

V

"You done this before?" Rick glanced at Jax. Jax just smiled and shrugged. Morales and Jacqui pushed open the gate and Jax, Rick and Glenn strode out into the alley. Jax strutted along ahead of them, holding the fire-axe ready. They were maybe fifteen yards from the gate when it started to rain.

"Run," Jax breathed. Glenn and Rick didn't need to hear it twice. The trio sprinted as the guts and gore was washed off their bodies. Jax dropped the coat as he ran. He went up the fence last and pointed. "Get in the truck!" he shouted, grabbing the axe off the ground. He tore off the grate of another truck and leaned down, reaching inside.

"Jax! What the hell are you doing?" Glenn shouted. Jax stuck something into his waistband, ignoring Glenn. He scrambled around to the cabin of that truck, plied the door open and turned on the radio, full blast. There must've been a CD inside it, because suddenly Brantley Gilbert's voice filled the air, singing about how popular country music was. The sound must've been calling Walkers from blocks away straight to the gate.

"Glenn, leave him!" Rick snapped. "Get in the truck!"

Walkers were crashing against the gate, snarling and snapping as they pulled at the chain link. Jax ran over, climbing onto the passenger side door as Rick started the truck. Glenn rolled down the window, scooting over. Jax slid into the cabin as Rick floored it, ramming the fence. There was a moment of hitched breath as the wheels spun against the bodies under the fence beneath the wheels, but then the truck lurched forward, spinning gore off the tires after it.

"Everyone get ready to go," Jax said into the radio. "We're comin' up on the store now."

"_Try the alley, Jackie. We're ready to move._"

"Oh, hey, you got Dixon down, right?"

"_T an' Jacqui went up to fetch him with Rick's key._"

"Good," Jax said. He shut off the radio.

"Hey, Jax, you the leader of this group?" Rick asked as he pulled backwards into the alley. Jax climbed over Glenn and hauled up the hatch in the back. Andrea, Fiona and Morales climbed in.

"No," Jax said. "Ain't really any kind of leader."

Jacqui and T-Dog scrambled onto the truck after Morales.

"Merle didn't want to come?" Andrea asked as Jax slammed the door.

"Dropped the key," T-Dog muttered.

"You what?" Jax looked down at him.

"I dropped the key!" T-Dog repeated.

"Ah shit..." Jax groaned, tipping his head against the wall of the truck. "We're gonna have to come back later, Fi."

"Well, shite," Fiona cursed.

"Manage to get ahold of the main crew?" Jax asked.

"Yeah," Morales said. "Told Lori we found her husband."

"And?"

"She cant wait to see you, man," Morales said, grinning at Rick, who grinned back.

VI

DAY 22

Jax put out a hand to brace his fall, clutching Abel to his chest with the other. Gemma clung to Tig's kutte as the biker used himself as a shield between her and the oncoming dead.

"We need to move," Juice urged.

"I know!" Jax snapped. "You tell me where, Juice!"

"Hey! You shitheads need a hand?"

The voice came from above. They looked up. A hatch had opened up above them and a ladder dropped down. Jax sent Wendy, cradling Thomas, up first. He handed Abel off to Kerrianne and she climbed up next. Fiona went up right after her, and Gemma after Fiona. Chibs sent Juice up next, and Tig sent up Rat. Tig and Jax had to almost push Chibs up the ladder and Tig gestured for Jax to head up next, but Jax hesitated, looking at Happy.

"I got these guys," Happy said, giving Jax a rueful smile. "You guys get up there."

"Hap..." Jax started.

"Prez, we ain't gonna live forever. Might as well make the most of it," Happy shrugged, unsheathing his knife. "Besides..." He tugged down the collar of his kutte. A bite had been taken out of his shoulder. "I ain't long for this world."

"Take as many of 'em with you as you can, brother," Tig said, clapping Happy's shoulder. Happy grinned.

"Yeah, I'll do that," Happy said. Jax gave his arm a squeeze and bolted up the ladder, Tig right behind him. Their savior closed the hatch on the sounds of Happy _laughing, _after all five of the remaining Sons had gotten up onto the roof.

"You five whole?" their savior asked. He was a lean man in his thirties, maybe a few years older than Jax. Jax glanced at his guys.

"Yeah, we're whole," Tig said. "Who the hell are you?"

"Daryl Dixon," the man held out a hand to Jax, first. Jax shook it, offering Daryl a dry smile.

"I'm Jax Teller. Apparently, we're all that's left of the Sons of Anarchy."

VII

DAY 62

"Lori?"

Lori dropped the laundry and ran to Rick, hugging him. Morales hugged his wife and kids and Jax let the woman who looked like she was either his mother or much older sister hug him and kiss him on the cheek.

"Daddy!" a young, blond boy ran up to Jax and hugged his leg. The biker crouched down and hugged his (Rick had to assume the kid was Jax's son) son.

"Hey, little man," Jax smiled. "Look what I got for you."

Rick didn't hide his surprise at the biker's tenderness. He pulled a model race car out of his kutte and handed it to his son. The little blond boy grinned up at his father. "Thank you, Daddy," the boy said.

"No problem, little guy," Jax pecked a kiss to the top of his son's head and straightened up. Rick hugged Carl as his son ran up to him and stooped almost mechanically, pecking a kiss to his son's head. Two men approached Jax and Fiona.

"How'd it go?" the Hispanic one asked, glancing from Jax to Fiona after hugging them both and kissing Fiona on the cheek.

"Fine," Jax said with a shrug.

"That why Dixon isn't with ya?" the other man, the one with the curly mop, kutte and mustache asked.

"If only," Fiona scoffed at an unsaid question.

"Daryl's gonna be pissed, you know that, right?" the Hispanic man raised an eyebrow.

"Not when we explain ourselves," Jax said with a shrug. "Besides, I plan on going back to get Dale's tools, and Merle. I just needed some wire cutters."

"You're not going alone," Jax's mother frowned.

"Absolutely not," Fiona said. "I'll go with him."

"No offense, Fi, but I wanna make it a quick run. I think it'll just be me and Rat, maybe me and Juice or Daryl," Jax said. Then he looked over at Rick and waved him over. "Guys, this is Rick Grimes," he told them. "Rick, this is my mom, Gemma, my best friend, Nero and my brother, Tig."

"Fellow biker," Tig shrugged, shaking the offered hand. He leaned back and looked around. "Hey! Juice! Getcherass over here!" he called out. A young man also in a Sons kutte walked over. He had short hair, like it was growing in, still, from the last time he'd shaved his head. Tig put a hand on his shoulder. Another man walked over, also wearing a kutte. He had shaggy hair and a beard filling in. "And this is Juice. And Rat."

"Nice to meet y'all," Rick said.

"You, too, honey," Gemma said, smiling sweetly, if a bit tightly, at him. "Even if you were a cop."

"He's not a dick like Shane," Jax said.

"He's alright, this lad is," Fiona said, smiling fondly at Rick and giving him a thump on the shoulder. Rick smiled weakly.

"Oh, Jax, you're back," a blond woman rushed over, a toddler, maybe two or three, propped on her hip. The little blond boy with the car was clinging to her leg.

"And this is my ex-wife, Wendy, and my boys, Abel and Thomas," Jax introduced them. "Wendy, this is Rick Grimes."

"Nice to meet you, Rick," Wendy shook his hand with her free hand. Then she hugged Jax and kissed him on the cheek.

"So when are they supposed to be getting back?" Jax asked.

"Soon," Tig said. Just then, a clatter of metal went off. Everyone seemed to go into alert mode. Jax drew his knife and Tig drew his gun and they moved off, with Morales, Glenn, Rick and a few more guys Rick didn't take the time to glance around at. Rick followed Tig to the edge of the camp. A walker was hunched over a deer, back to them, chowing down on the deer's throat. Jax made to knife it in the head, but the other guys from the camp moved past him with shovels and sticks and proceeded to beat the ever-loving shit out of the walker. Jax sighed and stepped back.

"Son of a bitch!"

They looked up to see a man in his late thirties in cut-off thermal top and jeans coming up towards them, crossbow tucked against his shoulder. He was followed by a man in his late forties with a scarred face, carrying a bow and wearing a Sons of Anarchy kutte.

"Well, shite," the man said, making his Scottish nationality obvious. "Poor deer."

"Poor us. We've been tracking the sumbitch"— here, the man with the crossbow took a second to aim it at the walker and put a bolt through its skull, killing it instantly —"for days."

"There's other deer in the forest, Daryl," the Scot said. He paused, taking Rick in. The deputy uniform, the hat, the drawn revolver. "Who's this poor bastard?"

"Rick Grimes," Tig replied. "According to Jax and your wife, he's okay."

"If my wife approves, he's practically in the family," the man, who had to be the Chibs Fiona and Jax had mentioned to Rick, snorted a laugh. "Welcome, brother."

* * *

><p>Anyway... I don't see this updating regularly, but who knows? It might get more regular eventually, but I dunno. Dunno how far I'm gonna bother going with this, either. Not far, probably.<p>

Why the songs and lyrics? Because. Reasons.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, I warned you it'd take a minute between chapters, didn't I?

Sons of Anarchy x Walking Dead fanfic... I've been working on it since Season 3 of the Walking Dead... This is the Start of TWD TV Series and pre-Season 6 Finale AU (the AU part: take it very seriously) Sons of Anarchy... It's pretty much Rick centric (Jax centric in parts). I figured I oughta put this out before I forget it exists. I, uh... don't know when I'll be updating... I'll try to do it as often as I can, but this is a little-loved x-over fandom... Don't own anyone?  
>**PLEASE NOTE: Daryl is kinda OOC. I just can't see him being the same little jackass he was at the beginning of the series after having been hanging out with the Sons for a month or so. Not because I think the Sons are just that great of a bunch of guys, but that he'd have been put in a position of A) being their rescuer and B) being a provider and protector of them, with them and for Jax's kids and the ladies and C) being a teacher to those of them that don't know outdoor survival stuff... Basically, the Daryl I'm using here is more like the Daryl from the third season, rather than the first season, but not quite the same guy. Just getting that out there now so there's no confusion.<p>

CHAPTER TITLE:  
>From the song "Black Waltz" (from the album <em>Black Waltz<em> by Avatar) belongs to Avatar and their record label.

PAIRINGS (I'm doin' this now so I won't make people sad by shooting down ideas later, though I guess I might add to this later):  
>CANON: Rick x LoriLori x Shane, Maggie x Glenn, Gemma x Nero, Chibs x Fiona  
>NON-CANON: Rick x Michonne, Jax x Beth, Daryl x Kerrianne, Tig x Andrea<p>

Thanks to King_of_Nightmares_and_Dragons, Safiiri and Fanfiction Shuffling for the story favorites, Yellow-Phoenix2, Bonhamrules, Paddyfot92, Killerelephants21, Safiiri, AshleyHinton and Fanfiction Shuffling for the follows and, Dixie326, Killerelephants21 and my guest reviewer for their reviews.  
>Dixie326: Thanks again for your review!<br>Killerelephants21: Thanks, so much for your review!  
>Bonhamrules: Thank you for your review, again!<br>To Guest: Well, that's what fanfiction is for, yeah? Making those "Jeez, I wish that happened" moments "happen." Glad I could help, pal.  
>To SOATWDFan: I'm working on it, as you can see. And thank you.<p>

* * *

><p>Short Change Hero<p>

Chapter Two  
>Black Waltz<br>"..._Letting me know I was welcome here..."_

DAY 62  
>Daryl Dixon didn't strike Rick as any kind of leader, but there was certainly a level of respect there. Even so, he seemed like part of the family. Rick almost felt like Jax looked like an embarrassed little brother explaining to his older brother how he broke his older brother's toy and how it wasn't his fault. Daryl listened patiently and, while he looked a little angry, it didn't go much further past looks. Daryl patted Jax's shoulder and put his arm around his shoulders, the two of them walking over to where Rick was sitting with Lori and T-Dog.<p>

"So, is Daryl their leader, then?" Rick asked T-Dog.

"Nah, he just saved their asses, apparently," T-Dog said. "After that, I guess he just became part of the family."

"Which means you're gonna have to work for it, too, lad," Chibs said, sitting down beside Rick. He offered a bottle of water to the cop, who readily accepted it, taking a long drink. "So?" Chibs looked up at Daryl and Jax when they got close enough for polite conversation.

"So, I'm goin' down to the City to grab him tomorrow," Daryl said. "Dryin' out overnight'll do him good."

"Always does, right?" Chibs joked. Daryl grinned.

"Yeah, usually," he seemed distracted. Jax followed his line of sight and smiled. Chibs turned, in sync with Rick, Lori and T-Dog. A young woman and a young man were making their way up the hill, a tree branch propped on their right and left shoulders, respectively, with a buck tied, hanging upside down, to the branch.

"She had a good teacher," Chibs said. Daryl shrugged.

"And better luck that us," he said.

"We'll worry about the Merle situation in the morning," Rick suggested. "When we've all had some sleep and time to think and get to know a little more than names?"

"Good idea," Jax said.

"Yeah, your mom'd cut my balls off if I dragged you out now," Daryl said, giving Jax a thump to the back. "Fine. We talk about it tomorrow."

I

Rick felt surprisingly at ease in the large group, even if all the bikers were concentrated on one side of the fire, while the civilians were all on the other side. Rick felt like the bridge on his side of the fire, sitting with Lori curled against one side and half a foot between his free side and Chibs's. Rick was almost surprised at how much younger Fiona looked, in a white blouse, hair loosely hanging around her face as she cuddled against her husband's side.

"So who killed that big buck?" Shane asked.

"Kerrianne did," the young man named Juice said. Rick caught that there were tattoos on his head, just visible past the dark fuzz of filling-in hair. "I caught it in the... butt with my shot, but she got it right in the eye."

"Juice, honey, too much detail," Wendy said. She was sitting with the boys and Jax, across the fire from Rick and Lori.

"Sorry," Juice said, looking back down at his plate.

"Good shot, Kerrianne," Rick said. "I coudn't have made that with, what were you using? A crossbow?"

"No," Kerrianne said. "Old fashioned bow," she mimed firing an arrow. Kerrianne looked a lot like her mother, but there was a mischievous spark in her eyes that definitely came from her father.

II

DAY 63  
>Ed didn't know what hit him.<p>

Well, maybe he did, since it was kind of hard to miss the six-two mustached biker. Tig stood over Ed, rather than continue beating the shit out of him. _Restraint, _his conscience reminded him, in Gemma's voice. Tig grinned manically down at the man. "Look, buddy, we've been ignoring this as long as we can. You touch your wife in any other way than loving again and I'll cut your prick off and feed it to you backwards."

As far as threats went, Tig had made better ones in the past.

"Hey, brother, step back," Chibs's voice cut through the angry haze. Tig backed off, turning a yard or so away to face his Scottish friend. "Take it easy wi' that, would ye? I get where you're at with it, but it'll cause more trouble than it's worth."

"I'm sick of it, Chibs," Tig replied. "You know how I feel about abuse."

"Aye, an' I know how ye feel about the group," Chibs said. "There's more o' them than you an us. They want us out, we'll 'ave to go."

"Jax warned him."

"Jax ain't got shite to do with this. I ain't protectin', 'im, Tiggy. I'm protectin' you," Chibs said, locking his gaze with Tig's. Tig scanned the Scot's face and nodded. Chibs gave Tig's shoulder a squeeze and ruffled his hair. Tig reached out and one-arm hugged his brother.

"Right, right... Maybe Amy wants to go fishing or something," Tig said. Chibs grinned.

"Aye, good idea. That'd be good for you, brother."

"Yeah," Tig said. Chibs watched Tig go before he turned to Ed. The man was just plying himself off the ground. Chibs took four long strides and stooped, picking the man up by his collar, holding him so they were nose-to-nose.

"Listen you over-sized piece of shite," Chibs snarled, struggling to keep his accent as understandable as possible, angry as he was. "This never happened. I hear you mention Tig hitting you an' I'll gut you like the pig you are."

"I won't tell, I won't tell!"

"Good," Chibs snarled. "An' you'll keep your hands to yourself, regardin' your family, too, aye?"

"Or what?"

"No 'or.' You will. Nod your head if you understand," the Scot snarled. Ed nodded his head, making himself resemble something like a bobble head. Chibs let him go, planting a kick on his behind that made him stumble a few feet. Chibs growled and turned away, reaching into his kutte like he was fishing something out. Not finding it, he swore and looked down, putting his hands on his hips and sighing.

"You know, normally I'd disagree with that kind of behavior..."

Chibs looked up at the sound of Dale's voice. He gritted his teeth. "Aye?"

"But," Dale continued. "He had it coming. Violence only begets violence."

"I know that," Chibs snorted. "Oft'n times, I'm the one begettin' the violence."

"I figured as much," Dale nodded. "You seem like one of the more reasonable bikers, though."

"Depends on who ye ask."

"I'm not asking anyone, I'm just saying," Dale said. "As I was saying, I'm not glad it happened, but he had it coming. And I'm glad you pulled Tig off him."

"Aye, well," Chibs shrugged. He dug into the other side of his kutte and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Ye mind?" he asked. Dale shook his head and waved in a politely dismissive manner.

"No, go right on ahead," Dale said. "Point is, this is a very different world. Violence amongst ourselves can't be tolerated anymore, since there's only so many of us left. It's best we all remember that..."

"Aye," Chibs agreed, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"What'll you do if Ed keeps on?"

Chibs looked at Dale. The cold criminal rose to the surface in the biker's eyes. He tipped his head to the side slightly, then looked away, exhaling smoke through his nose. He propped himself on a tree and lifted one boot, grinding out the cigarette against the side of the heel. He dropped it back into the pack and stuck the pack in his kutte. Then he turned to Dale, one hand resting on his hunting knife.

"Whaddya think?"

III

It had been decided, through much argument in semi-coherent Irish and Scottish accents (with snatches in actual Gaelic), that Kerrianne would, in fact, be accompanying Jax, Daryl, Rick, T-Dog, Rat and Glenn to bring Merle back.

Rick stopped on his way to the cabin to help Kerrianne hoist a bag into the back of the truck.

"I didn't need your help," she told him. "What's in that bag's goin' out to Daryl an' Jax mainly."

Rick shrugged. "It's fine. I'm here to help," he said. "But can I ask what's in it?"

"Pipe bombs, grenades, music boxes," Jax said. "And a plastic super-sized mason jar full of zombie guts. For emergencies."

"What kind of emergencies?" Glenn asked.

"The kind you'll need a plastic super-sized mason jar of zombie guts for," Daryl replied. "Jackie, thanks for the extra arrows."

"Yeah, no prob, man. 'Cept for Chibs and Kerri, we all use 'em," Jax shrugged. "Hey, Rat! Get in!"

Most of the ride was quiet. But it was getting to Rick, who was in a car full of strangers. Usually, he'd be fine with quiet... But he didn't know a damn thing about the people around him. So, he started up a conversation.

"So, Kerrianne, you also grew up in Belfast?" Rick asked. Jax was driving, with Rick in the passenger's seat.

"Aye," she said.

"And your dad left you guys?" T-Dog asked.

"He was...It wasn't his choice to leave. It's a complicated story," Kerrianne said, looking down at her lap. She tugged at her bracelet.

"Gang trouble," Jax said by way of explanation.

"Damn," Glenn said. "I'm curious, now..."

"And that's all you'll ever be," Rat said. "I don't even know the story."

"Before your time, Rat," Jax said. "You don't need to know."

"Oh, I got that loud and clear, Jax," Rat said. "So, Dee, what's the plan?"

"Go in, get my shithead brother and Dale's tools, get the guns and get the fuck out," Daryl said. "And if you ever call me 'Dee' again, I'll kick your ass."

"Got it," Rat said, looking down. "Hey, uh, couldn't we go after the guns first?"

"No, we're going after Merle first," Daryl said. "You and Kerri can drag his ass back here while we go after the guns."

"I am _not_ spending more time than I have to with your brother with only Rat as company, aside from him," Kerrianne said. "No offense, luv," she added, smiling at Rat, who shrugged.

"None taken," Rat said. "I love you, too, Kerrianne, but just you to keep me company, trapped in a truck with Merle? Hell no. I'd rather go on a stake out with Tig every day for a year."

Jax laughed. Rick raised an eyebrow.

"How's that?" Rick asked.

"Tig's... weird," Jax said.

"A fucking creepy son of a bitch," Rat corrected.

Rick let that one be and looked back at the road.

IV

"Venison jerky, huh?" Sophia peered over the rack Tig had set up. "Pretty cool. Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"Believe it or not, darlin', Daryl and Merle taught us," Tig said. "Huh, Juice?"

"Oh, yeah," Juice agreed, wiping his bloodied hands off on a towel.

"Where'd you get all the salt?" Carl peered over the edge of the table.

"I brought it back from the City," Fiona told him as she came out of the RV. "Dale's freezer's still workin', you know, Tiggy."

"Oh, yeah, I know," Tig said. "But we can't all fit it in there."

"Oh, ho!" Morales's cry of surprise caught their attention. Andrea and Amy were coming up the hill with a bundle of fish apiece. "Thanks to you ladies, my children will eat tonight," Morales teased.

"Whoa!" Carl said, grinning as he went over to look at the fish. "Even more than you caught, Mr. Tig!"

"That's because Ms. Andrea is magic, kiddo," Tig winked.

"I don't want to alarm anyone..." Dale came to the group. "But we might have a problem."

He pointed Shane, Chibs, Juice, Fiona and Tig in the direction of the hill. Just over the lower tree-tops, Jim was visibly shoveling away.

"Tha's no' good," Chibs said in a low voice. He, Dale, Shane and Juice headed up the hill, towards Jim.

"Jim? Jim, what're you doing?" Shane called out, prowling up to the digger.

"What's it look like?" Jim asked, not even glancing up from his work.

"Lad, we'll help ye dig, but it's best if ye take a rest," Chibs reached for the shovel. Jim jumped back pointing the shovel at the Scot threateningly. "Easy, Jimbo."

Then Shane and Juice tackled Jim. Somewhere during that, Shane knocked Jim out.

"Well, shite," Chibs frowned. "Juicy, grab 'is legs. Watch 'is head, Shane."

"Yeah, yeah," Shane grumbled. He and Juice hoisted Jim up and went back down the hill.

"This... is not good," Dale said.

"No kidding," Juice replied. "Why do you think he was digging?"

"Dehydration an' sunstroke makes folks do queer things," Chibs shrugged. "'Specially combined wi' a wee bit o' PTSD."

V

"Oh, shit..."

Daryl kicked the pipe angrily and turned, glaring at T-Dog. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something and shut it again, turning back to the puddle of blood and severed hand. He scratched the back of his head.

"Ain't that a bitch," he muttered to go with Jax's own exclamation. He looked over at Jax. "Shithead."

"What? He was causin' trouble and it seemed like the safest thing to do," Jax said. "Right, Sheriff?"

"Deputy and yes," Rick said.

"Yeah, well..." Daryl squatted next to the hand and pulled a rag out of his back pocket. He laid it out on the roof and set the hand into the center, neatly folding it over the hand.

"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the cuffs," Rat said.

"Daryl, he'd've used a tourniquet," Kerrianne noted.

"Right," Daryl said, waving Glenn over. He tucked the hand into Glenn's backpack. "Be a hell of a lot more blood if he didn't. It goes off that way."

"Aye," Kerrianne said, jogging along the trail. It crossed to another staircase leading back into the building. She notched and arrow to her bow and aimed down the stairs, waiting for her party-mates to catch up. Daryl pushed down the stairs, his heavy crossbow raised. They came into some sort of lobby. Kerrianne fired over Daryl's shoulder, taking out one of the two walkers. Jax fired one shot from his crossbow, hitting the other in the neck. Daryl finished it easily, plying out both arrows as they passed, handing one back to Jax.

"It's gotta be the brain, Jax," Daryl said. The next room they moved into had too previously dispatched walkers, sprawled on the floor, their skulls caved in. "At least we know Merle had enough in 'im to take these two sumbitches out."

"One handed, too," Rat said. "Doesn't surprise me, though, your brother's a tough sonovabitch. I bet if you fed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

"You didn't pay enough attention in biology, didja?" Daryl joked. Jax grinned and Kerrianne laughed quietly.

"No matter how tough he is, any man can pass out from bloodloss," Rick reminded them. They continued into a kitchen where four cans of the Sterno flammable gel traditionally used for food heating trays had been opened and lit. An iron sat beside them, something burned on it.

"What's that smell?" Glenn frowned.

"Skin," Jax said, nodding at the iron.

"He cauterized the stump," Rick clarified. Glenn paled.

VI

As the trail went cold on Merle, they decided to go after the guns. Glenn got the bag, but as he started to run back to Daryl, a car zoomed up. The door swung open and, as Daryl made to move, someone hit the back of his head. They didn't hit hard enough to knock him out, though. So he whirled around and headbutted them. Hard. Hard enough to knock the stupid kid out. By the time he turned back around, the car was squealing off, an arrow sticking out of the trunk lid. The guns were lying on the ground. Kerrianne, Rick, T-Dog, Jax and Rat jogged up to Daryl.

"They got Glenn," Daryl said, irritated.

"You're bleeding," Rat pointed out. Daryl touched the wet spot on his forehead gingerly. He pulled his hand away, bloody.

"'S not my blood," Daryl replied. It was the unconscious teenager's blood, from his broken nose. Rat scurried out and picked up the guns, then ran back to the group. They retreated into the offices of a near by building and woke the kid with a hard slap across his face (courtesy of Jax).

"Where did they take our friend?" Rick asked.

"I ain't talking to you, pendejo," the kid spat at Rick.

"You might wanna re-think that, kid," Jax snarled. "You know who the Sons of Anarchy are?"

"No," the kid said. Daryl went to Glenn's retrieved backpack and unzipped the top. He pulled out Merle's severed hand and threw it in the kid's lap.

"That's all that's left of the last guy who pissed the Sons off," Daryl said. "Where the hell did your puto amigos take our friend?"

"I can show you!" the kid squirmed against the zip-ties holding his hands to the chair, avoiding looking at the hand as best he could. Kerrianne picked the hand back up and handed it to Daryl.

The kid made good on his word. Rick dropped a bag over the kid's head and signaled Kerrianne to scale one of the collapsing walls. She obeyed with a merry grin and T-Dog went up the opposite way with a little more of an uneasy expression. Daryl jabbed the kid in the ribs with his crossbow.

"Walk."

The kid stumbled along ahead of them, towards the main structure. Rick checked that Kerrianne and T-Dog were in position before they stepped into the open. The building in front of them looked like a fortress. The doors creaked open and a group of gang-banger-esque men stepped out.

VII

"Shane!"

Juice slammed into the ex-cop like a linebacker, throwing him off Ed. He slapped Shane once and hit the dirt when the ex-cop tossed him. Juice launched himself back at Shane, grabbing at his clothes with no intent to actually harm him, despite getting knocked around himself. It gave Tig enough time to get down the hill with Nero. Tig grabbed Shane and hauled him up and around, putting his back to Ed and Juice. Nero helped Ed up and Juice, licking blood off his lip, went over to help Carol up out of the dirt. She dove past him sobbing.

"Ed, no! I'm sorry," Carol sobbed. Ed shook Nero off and tried to walk away, pushing Carol away without much force. Nero caught him as he started to fall and Juice held Carol back.

"Listen, shithead," Tig snarled. "He's not worth it. He's not worth it, Shane."

"Get the fuck off me, you biker scum," Shane headbutted Tig, breaking his nose. Tig shook his head, tightening his grip on Shane's shirt.

"Cute," Tig grinned viciously, blood running down his face. "Real cute."

Shane sagged in Tig's grip when the biker headbutted him. Tig straightened him up and pushed him up the hill. Carol was walking on her own, now, and Juice took Ed from Nero. Nero came back down the hill and forcibly led Shane back up with him. "C'mon, Shane. Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Nero said, glancing at Tig. The biker waved at Nero to keep walking.

"You okay, Tiggy?" Gemma asked. Tig nodded and gripped his nose between his index and middle knuckles. He twisted slightly, getting it back in place.

"I've had worse," Tig said. "Did Eddie hit Carol?"

"Yelled at her and grabbed at her arm, but Shane attacked him before he could do any damage," Jacqui said. "Why?"

"Cuz we threatened to..." Tig remembered Carl was maybe ten feet away from him. "Have a serious talk with him if he hurt her again," Tig shrugged. "But he didn't hurt her?"

"No," Andrea said.

"Good," Tig said. "You ladies need help with anything?"

"Tiggy, would you mind keeping an eye on Carl?" Gemma suggested. Lori gave her an enraged look. Tig looked at Lori for confirmation.

"Absolutely..." Lori caught Gemma's glare. "Could you?" she asked Tig. "Not too far, though. Not that I don't think he'll be safe with you, I'm just his mother."

"Oh, I get it," Tig nodded. "Yeah, no problem." The tall biker turned to Carl and knelt down. "Whaddya wanna do, kiddo?"

"I want to go frog fishing," Carl said. "Shane was teaching me until Ed started yelling..."

"Frog fishing, huh?" Tig stroked his goatee thoughtfully. "Okay. But your mom doesn't want us to go too far."

"That's okay. We were fishing on those rocks right there," Carl pointed. Tig looked over his shoulder at Lori.

"That's fine," Lori said. Tig straightened up.

"Okay, then, kiddo. Boss Lady says it's okay. Let's go, huh?"

"C'mon!" Carl ran off towards the rocks, Tig prowling after him.

"What are you doing?" Lori snapped at Gemma.

"You keep telling Wendy you want to trust more of us than just her, but you won't give us a chance," Gemma growled. "Tiggy's the very best guard dog you could ask for. He's a little weird, but he's good with kids and he's a real sweetheart. Keep him on your good side and you might get me on your good side some day. That's where you want us both, just so you're aware, darlin'."

"Don't you dare threaten me," Lori said, indignant. Gemma tipped her head to the side.

"Honey, I haven't. You'll know when I do threaten you," she said. "There'll be a a gun in your face and I won't be talkin' so nice."

VIII

"Give us our friend back and we'll give you yours," Rick called out. Jax yanked the hood off the kid's head.

"Give us our guns and our friend and maybe we'll give you your friend in one piece, puto," the leader of the gangbangers called out.

"You ain't exactly in a position to negotiate, cabron," Jax returned. "We've got guns. You've got sticks. We'll kill you all before you even get to us."

"And we'll kill your friend," the leader said. A smaller door opened up towards the top of the building. Glen squirmed against his captor, until he realized he was fifty feet from the ground.

Just then, a little old lady shuffled out. "Mijo?" she went up to one of the men, perhaps the biggest, burliest, angriest looking one. Rick and company couldn't catch the murmured Spanish she said to him.

"Abuela, go back inside."

"But Señor Thompson—!"

"Go," the leader said to his man. The little old lady shuffled off with her grandson.

"Stand down," Rick sighed. "We can't give you all the guns, but we'll give you some," he offered. He nodded at Rat, who cut the zip-ties holding the kid's hands together. Rick set the bag down and knelt by it. "Kid, c'mere," he said. He handed the kid a few shot guns, a hunting rifle, two AR-15's and a trio of Glocks. He handed the kid some ammo to go with the guns. "Give us our friend back. We're sending the kid over with ammo and guns for you."

"Just like that?" the leader asked. "Why the change of heart?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Jax said in a low voice.

"I just realized where we are," Rick said. "On the other side of that garage is an old folks home. These guys are just protecting their families. They want guns to do that."

"In that case," Rat pulled out a pair of pipe bombs, like the ones Fiona had thrown. Rick saw the pieces of smoke detector and nodded.

"Good idea," he said. Rat added the pipe bombs to the stack in the kid's arms. "Go on," Rick told the kid. He nodded nervously and stumbled over to his gang. Glenn came out a moment later. He walked backwards towards Rick, Jax, Rat and Daryl. "Are you okay?" Rick asked Glenn. The young former pizza delivery man nodded. "Satisfied, friend?" Rick called out.

"How many did you keep?"

"Two shot guns, two Glocks, one hunting rifle and some M-4's," Rick replied.

"Thanks esse! Stay safe!"

Rick and company departed, then, and headed back to their truck.

Which was no longer there.

"Damn it, Merle."

* * *

><p>I kinda love Gemma. She's a freakin' badass. I mean, she's pretty horrible, but she's a badass. I definitely think she'd rock the Zombie Apocalypse. In spike heels. Also, I love Tig with kids. He's so adorable with kids! I had to get the whole Carl 'n' Tig moment in there. :)<p>

I drew the WORST mental blank when I was describing the... flammable gel traditionally used for heating food trays (It's Sterno). Hence that little ramble.

PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWS KEEP DARYL IN SLEEVELESS SHIRTS, JAX IN HIS FLANNELS AND SHANE TO HIMSELF.

Shane: Hey!

Jax: Shut up.

Shane: **glare**

Chibs: Donnae even thenk aboot et, laddeh.

Shane: I have no idea what you said, but okay.


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